Perditions Prey
by ArmyVet
Summary: In the world of Hannibal Lecter there are many preditors. And all kinds of prey.


Perditions Prey

His weapon is fear, total and absolute. Wielding it like a great hammer, to bring about the destruction of men. In your late-night moments of fear, is a whisper of his deeds. The crushing weight of this criminal need, paralyzes his mercy. Peruse his psyche, and you will wilt under its boundless abandon. His willful lust for the destruction of others has no equal, all will fall beneath the weight of his wanton criminality.

News clippings of cruel and unusual deeds adorn the walls of his secret place. Portents of doom. They mask themselves in lesser deeds. Each one a grim testament written in sorrow. A trail of chaos, littered with shattered hopes and broken dreams. Payment in full for a lifetime of torture. Anguish expressed in the brunt of pain. Real or imagined he knows not. But it drives him nonetheless, pushing him into greater and greater acts of depravity.

It begins as little more than a whisper in their minds. Hints of danger that brush the subconscious. A game begun that has only one conclusion. One possible ending that the Eaton Family Slayer plays out in his twisted mind. Each person nothing more than a domino, falling as his whim dictates.

This title he has given himself is a misnomer, and he knows it. Murder by his own hand is a distasteful affair. Destroying a family is his trade. Its death knell a calling card of his past. As he relives his own sordid history, time and time again.

He revels in all of this. The slow arduous task of dismantling a family, and its eventual destruction. Stepping in and out of lives upon his whim. Slowly but surely the deeds become more ominous, more overt. Somehow it seems safety is slowly ebbing away. No one can help them. And anyone who tries to intervene is dealt with harshly. There is no safe harbor from the coming storm. Manipulation is key, and the interloper is forced to deal with their own sudden family crisis. Nothing is to alter his final design.

It is said " the devil is in the details," so too this game. A small action causing a greater reaction is best. Amazing how one letter to his mistress from a " faithful " husband can cause so much havoc. Or one indecent photo could cause a dedicated wife and mother to leave town. Never to be heard from again.

Action and reaction, how to derive them most stimulus from his intended victims. No pleasure is derived from this per se. More a fulfilling of some dark desire of the soul. To see if maybe, just maybe, someone can weather his own storm better. If only he could find just one person to alter his skewed perception of man.

There was such a person once. A great bastion of family virtue. A husband for 20 years, faithful to a fault with a successful business as well. All manner of temptation was laid out before him. Money, power, sex and love. He resisted them all.

Frustration, anger and disbelief began to cloud his mind. Had the Eaton Family Slayer finally met his match ? By then, even he, the hidden destroyer began to believe. Some strange and wondrous thought began to take hold. It was possible this man had been underestimated.

It took much longer than anticipated. But in the end it came down to the simplest of things. This man's weakness was the very thing Eaton wished to destroy. His family, or more to the point his devotion to them. Surprised by his own nearsightedness he began to formulate a new plan.

It was a simple enough task to bring about his downfall thereafter. Two hired thugs were to attempt to "kidnap" his young daughter. This before his very eyes. The rules were simple : no weapons only words.

This gentle even meek sort of man turned into a raging beast. Savagely beating both men nearly to death. With a bit of judicial maneuvering on the part of Eaton, the man was off to jail. In his absence the wife was no contest to subvert. A bit of blackmail for her former High School flame was summoned. Loneliness is a terrible thing that was filled with devotion from another.

And the rest as they say is history. A story as old as time. Devoted husband returns from jail. Wife is in love with another man. Her lover is found suspiciously deceased. Done and done.

So many lives destroyed, secrets revealed before their time. The husband in Chicago who left his wife after her secret drug addiction was brought to light. Perhaps he might have stayed. That was until he found their life savings had gone missing. The Prom Queen in Idaho, who's secret addiction to diet pills caused the death of her two closest friends. Three family's eventual destruction from the loss. The baker in Des Moines, who's secret love affair with the pastor's wife destroyed a church. The baker and the pastor's wife do not a good pair make.

All these things and more reflect weak minded fools. Whose own love of self was their undoing. What more can I get? What more can I have? Is this all life has to offer? Their own boredom, dissatisfaction with the hand life had dealt led to eminent destruction. Find the secrets and exploit them to effect against his intended victims.

Ah to peek through the window of another's life unnoticed. The voyeur in us all wishes this at one time or another. Ever wanted to be a fly on the wall? Just to hear what others say about you? Or to know for certain what another is thinking? It is a terrible, terrible thing. To know the innermost heartfelt desires of another is terrifying to say the least. Eaton has seen all and knows the hearts of men. And they are wicked!

If you could be assured of getting away with something what would you desire? Murder? Sex ? Power? Destruction of a life? These and more are the tenets of the lives he surveys. The barebones of the issue is this : be careful who you cross, for they may hold it against you, secretly wishing for your downfall.

Many will never act upon these most basic of instincts. These negative thoughts simply passing on to the next. But what if a third party knows your secrets? And uses them against you? This is where Eaton comes in. A cohesive bond between two angry people, only in a negative light. If only one person is supposed to know your secrets, and they find the light of day ; what fireworks ! The pure entertainment value! It is this game he plays with the lives of others. A voyeur at heart with a touch of sadist mixed in. a terrifying notion to say the least.

Certainty fills Eatons resolve. Calm like never before fills his being. Knowing what he must do : finish his great masterwork. The mission to find someone who could withstand his onslaught has failed. How could it come to this? Each one, each person he hand selected. Feeling they had a chance. A slim chance but a chance nonetheless. And he failed. Nothing makes sense. Everything was planned. And yet he failed .Why? What had he missed? What flaw brought him to this place? Perhaps the fault was his own. In his own beliefs. Did he really think that someone could pass his test?

He is resigned to his fate. The simplest truth is evident herein. He cannot escape his fate. And so his prey cannot escape theirs. Thinking his designs were possible to weather. Yet knowing they are not. Impossible odds coupled with impossible suffering brought to a final crescendo. Crashing waves of sadness upon the beach of broken dreams.

Perdition's admission...

I have watched my progeny from afar. And witnessed the birth of monsters. Creatures unable to feel a modicum of remorse. Their design my own, their direction my will. I drive their emotion, dictate their actions. From the beginning it was I who led them down this path. Slowly breaking down all hope to bring forth these creatures who prey upon men. They are not the first or the last. More will follow for my vocation is the destruction of men.

Four slayers, four punishments, each a master at his own game. My four horsemen of retribution if you will. Death, family destruction, business liquidation or a simple sullying of reputation may all be bought for a price.

Those who oppose the will of my employers will suffer for their impudence. In the end their own destruction is foretold in their own life story. For somewhere, at some time, they have begun the process of their own demise. They transgressed the wrong person at the wrong time. Those who now hold money, power, and influence. They wish, and pay well, to watch as former adversaries are reduced to nothingness. They wish to be silent observers as these lives are slowly dismantled.

And so I record these acts, and am paid upon delivery. A single disk, video and audio that documents in detail my clients designs on revenge.

My name is Perdition. And I prey on the lives of men.


End file.
